The Son of Artemis
by MaceWindovahkiin117
Summary: The virgin goddess Artemis has sworn off men and children, being maiden of only her famous Huntresses. Then, suddenly, she sees the potential in children, and visits Olympus pregnant. Sean Bennett could be the luckiest Half-Blood alive, or the unluckiest.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

"So," Zeus said, unsure what to think. "You've never done _this_ before..."

"True enough," Artemis responded. "And yet, I've recently seen its practicality and wisdom. Surely you see the same, or at least Athena."

Athena sure did. She had previously thought it best to stay quiet until Zeus had said his piece, but she spoke up, now. "It _is_ practical. And wise. She can't _just_ have her Huntresses about. It is a good choice."

"Hmm..." Zeus thought for a moment. "Yes, I can see the merit. Though its absence would change nothing, you have my blessing. And, Artemis?"

Artemis, who had been leaving, turned back.

"It may be wise to repeat these events."

Artemis would have dismissed the idea any other century, but now she simply nodded and contemplated the prospect. "Perhaps."

 _Twelve years later..._

Sean Bennet crested the hill, looking back doubtfully. His dad waved to him, and he smiled weakly. This summer camp was odd, and not very compelling. It just looked like a massive house in some strawberry fields.

"I swear," Sean muttered, "if this is some fruit farming camp, I'm hiding in the attic." He walked down the opposite side of the hill. He was greeted at the door by an older gentleman in a wheelchair. He had reddish-brown hair, a wispy beard, deep brown eyes, and wore a tweed jacket and gray pants.

"Welcome, Sean." He extended a hand in greeting. "I'd stand, but..."

Sean chuckled some, then shook the man's hand. It was only later he realized he had never been introduced or registered, and this man shouldn't have known his name.

"Well, we should get to it. I'm giving it to you straight, because you've already noticed some strange things in your life."

It was true. Sean had been in some strange situations, though he'd had no explanation for them, and nobody else had either. Like that time he had translated an Ancient Greek phrase he'd never seen before, and everyone in his History class stared at him in shock. Then they had gone on, sort of dazed but as if nothing had happened. Or that time when a fissure had opened up in the middle of the road, all passersby completely oblivious, and horrors had poured out. When Sean had blinked, though, the fissure was gone and the horrors somewhere in the crowds.

"Well, might as well tell you. You're a Half-Blood." The man in the wheelchair rolled into the large house, and Sean followed him. "A demigod. Half god, half human. Your father: is he your birth father?"

"Yes." Sean didn't believe any of this but figured he might humor the man. "Probably crazy," he muttered to himself.

"Who? Your father?" The man had heard him.

"What? No."

"Me, then? Well, that's what they all say, at first." The man wheeled his chair out onto the back of the wraparound porch, and Sean nearly had a heart attack. A massive field of... stuff had appeared. A volleyball court, a basketball court, a huge arena like he'd learned about in the Greek section of History, an archery range, several large pavilions of stone, an area of cabins shaped like a Greek Omega. There was a lake, a massive forest, and some docks out in the Long Island Sound. "Well, you may as well get acquainted with the other campers." The man in the wheelchair trotted past-

Trotted?!

Sean turned about and saw a hollowed-out wheelchair with fake legs attached to it. The man previously in the wheelchair was now a Centaur, a white stallion from the waist down.

"Ah, I'm Chiron. Yes, the same one as the myths. And, unfortunately for you, you're about to meet your first God."

/\

Dionysus was insufferable. Sean hated him, even if he did accept the reality of the Greek myths being all true. The God of Wine had sat, sipping his diet Coke for nearly half an hour, insulting Sean, calling him Shane, and expressed his annoyance at demigods in general.

Sean had finally slipped away, visiting the Hermes cabin and beginning his training. He found he wasn't much good on horses or chariots. The Athena cabin schooled him on that. He tried the canoe lake, and the son of Poseidon there, Percy, was across the lake before Sean could get his canoe straight. After that failure he went to the climbing wall, which poured lava, shot arrows, ejected spikes, and shook. He was a lot better at that, but not by very much. He then started training with swords.

"All right," Percy said. He was the sword trainer as well. "This one is a lot shorter, so it might work better." At first, Sean had been given a long blade, and he couldn't use it well at all. Now he held something akin to a Gladius, shorter and wider. He started sparring with Percy again, and the gladius balanced a lot better in his hand. Percy had a bit harder time defending, but still didn't let any strikes get through. The sword just didn't feel right. Maybe it wasn't a sword Sean needed...

"How about a dagger?" That seemed very appealing.

"It's a bit dangerous to fight with something so small, don't you-"

"Annabeth and Piper use them." Annabeth was the daughter of Athena, and was very handy with her knife. She was, like her mother and all of her half-siblings, very wise and knowledgable in battle tactics. Piper was a daughter of Aphrodite, and used her dagger with almost as much prowess. Her inherited Charmspeak was one of the more powerful in the Aphrodite cabin.

"I suppose..." Percy disappeared into the weapons shed. When he returned, he held a long, slim dagger. "This might-"

"No." Sean could already see it was too long and thin. Like a shorter version of a rapier. "Shorter and wider, I think. Why don't I go in with you." Percy nodded. Sean walked in, looking over an array of weapons made primarily of Celestial Bronze, with a few made of Imperial Gold, and fewer still, probably four in total, made of Stygian Iron. These were the sort of enchanted metals that could harm monsters and immortals. Silver also worked, Sean had been told, but only Artemis and her Huntresses used that. Sean turned around, looking at the other side of the shed, then turned back. Nestled deep in a pile of daggers, there sat one that stood out from the rest. It was Stygian Iron, and looked exactly like what Sean had in mind.

"Stygian Iron?" Percy seemed confused. "We don't usually use Stygian Iron..." Once out of its sheath, its balance was the best so far, though not perfect, and its black leather-bound hilt pretty comfortable.

"This one." Sean was not willing to back down on this point. This was the only dagger he'd found so far that he thought would work well for him.

"All right." Percy recognized the quality of the simple dagger. They sparred several more times, and only twice did Percy not end up with Sean's new dagger just centimeters away from his throat or chest.

"I think we've established you're good at knife-fighting," Percy panted after being beat a seventh time. "How about some archery? Chiron will be leading you on that."

Sean was led to the archery ranges, where Chiron had him in another weapon's shed. He had complimented Sean on his new dagger, though he also seemed a bit off. The moment had passed though, and Chiron invited Sean to choose a bow. None of these were made of Stygian Iron, and few were made of Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold. Most were made of wood, tendon, or bone. One stood out, though. It was shaped as though it were metal, but it was made of bone. The arrows with it were in a dark gray leather quiver with bronze trim. The arrows were made of white bone with steel heads, and had black fletching. Sean picked it up, and once again knew it was almost meant to be his. He walked outside, and began firing arrows without instruction from Chiron. He had shot some compound bows in his youth, and it had always seemed natural. This bow was a good deal harder to draw, but wasn't too difficult. Chiron's face flushed, and he nearly yelled at Sean. Then he noticed that every arrow was near center, and had been fired within two seconds of each other.

"That's..." Chiron was amazed. "Apollo, perhaps..."

Suddenly, a conch horn blew. Chiron beckoned to Sean, and they moved toward the largest of the stone pavilions. Sean sat at the Hermes table, and Chiron stamped his rear hoof. Dionysus was behind him, and Sean burst out laughing at an image of the god being kicked in the face. Everyone stared at him, and he was instantly silenced. Dionysus then stood to address the campers.

"Due to some quite compelling circumstances, Shane Bridget will be housed in the Apollo cabin from here forth..." His voice trailed off as Chiron spoke to him. "Ah, yes. _Sean_ _Bennet._ As a result, he will also be fighting alongside the Apollo cabin in tonight's match of Capture the Flag. This will be in place until he is claimed due to Peter Johnson's pact with the gods. Yes, yes. Percy, Peter, same thing. All right! Let's eat!"

They were served some sort of ultra-mega-lean barbecue and mixtures of fruits and vegetables. Before Sean could dig in, everyone stood up. They moved toward a large brazier, where everyone began scraping their best morsels and stating the name of a god. Sean reached the brazier and scraped in his meatiest rib and the largest strawberry.

"Apollo," he said. As Dionysus said, Apollo wasn't actually his father, but he was in that cabin. He then sat in the pavilion again, and wolfed down his food. He really liked the idea of Capture the Flag in this kind of place. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, but they didn't finish when he did. So he spoke to his magical cup.

"Root beer, 1956." The cup filled, and Sean took a content sip. Old-fashioned root beer was the best kind. Before he even finished the whole cup, Chiron stamped his hoof again and the food disappeared. In its place were suits of armor, sticks padded with leather to represent weapons, and less powerful bows than could be found in the armory.

"Tonight," Chiron said as everyone equipped themselves, "we have Athena, Hades, Poseidon, Apollo, and Aphrodite facing off against Ares, Zeus, Hephaestus, Demeter, Hermes, Hestia, and Dionysus." He waited for a moment for everyone to finish gearing up. Sean had donned some bronze greaves, bracers and helmet with a blue plume, then a leather cuirass. He had armed himself with a bow and some leather-tipped arrows and a short padded stick to represent a dagger. He then crossed to the Poseidon table, where everyone of blue team seemed to be congregating. On the table was a flag. It was divided in half diagonally, one side sea green and the other light gray. In the center was a dark grey owl over crossed green tridents. The flag was quite apparently a team flag for Athena and Poseidon. On the Ares table was a blood red, tattered looking flag with a boar's head in the center. In each corner there was an inward-facing spear. Definitely an Ares flag. Everyone went quiet, and Chiron spoke again.

"You all know the rules. Three rounds, best two out of three, the stream is the boundary. If you're hit in a lethal spot, move back to your flag for thirty seconds. Trust me, that's not very long. Let Capture the Flag begin!"

Everyone flooded toward the forest, and Annabeth approached Sean. "Everyone else has established their roles. You know what you want to do? We've got enough of everything already, so you're choice doesn't much matter."

Sean didn't have to think long. He'd played a less violent version of this in school, and he was only good at one thing. "Infiltration."

Annabeth nodded, as if she'd already known he would say that. The group congregated around a huge formation of boulders that looked like a fist. Someone laughed to his friend, "I love it when we get Zeus's Fist." Percy climbed the Fist and wedged the flag between two of the smaller rocks.

"You all know the plan. Spread out, let's go." Percy jumped from the Fist, drawing his 'sword.' "Defenders, only move if there's an unmissable opportunity."

Sean moved to the far right side of the field. He drew his bow and an arrow, and waited for the-

The conch horn blew. Sean moved forward immediately, shooting down a Hephaestus kid. He grumbled and walked toward his flag. Sean moved quickly and quietly through the trees, shooting at every opportunity. Every arrow found its mark, and he even managed to retrieve some. Before he knew it, he stood directly in front of the flag. He shot down half of the defenders, then snatched the flag through the opening. The other defenders didn't notice until he blew past them, heading at very high speed toward the boundary line. Suddenly, Percy and Annabeth appeared out of the trees, running in pace with Sean. They all saw the leather-tipped arrow flying out of the trees, and Percy took the flag as it struck Sean. Sean didn't stop or slow, but continued to run toward the Poseidon/Athena flag with his hands up. Percy was then struck, but now Annabeth had the flag, and was only five feet from the stream. She crossed, and a sea green/gray slash mark appeared on each flag. One victory for Athena/Poseidon. The conch horn blew again, and everyone was free to move back to their spots. Once everyone was on-sides, the conch horn blew again. Sean nocked and drew two arrows at once, finger in between them in order to fire them at multiple targets. He went full stealth this time, and had to stop just before the flag. There were more guards this time, and they were all archers from the Demeter cabin. Sean might have a lot more trouble with the capture. Percy and Annabeth suddenly charged out of the trees, and managed to fell half the guards before they were found out and shot. Sean fired on the other half and charged forward. He picked up the red flag and dove back into the trees. He took a winding, stealthy route, but was soon ambushed by some Hephaestus campers. They brought the flag back, and Sean was forced to walk across the line while a trio of Hermes kids ran across with the Athena/Poseidon flag. A maroon slash mark appeared on each flag, indicating a win for the Ares kids. One more for the win on both sides.

The conch horn blew a fourth time, then a fifth to signal the start of the next round. Sean was near the middle now, and could see both flags through the trees. He decided to go for a more direct, combat-based approach. He held his bow in his left hand, naturally, and his dagger in his right. It dangled from his pinky finger, leaving his index, middle and ring fingers free to fire his bow. Anyone with a ranged weapon was shot, but Sean soon ran into a posse of Ares kids with swords and spears. He replaced his arrow in its quiver and flipped the dagger upright. One sword-stick flew toward his head, which he ducked. That left him free to jab three kids in the gut, and they turned and shuffled back toward their flag with upraised hands. A spear then jabbed at Sean's chest, and he swiped it aside with a limb of his bow. He then spun in behind his attacker and stabbed him in the back three times. The others were forced to turn, but none of them had melee weapons. Sean had a free run to the flag. He took off running, but distant shouts told him someone else was about to capture the Athena/Poseidon flag. Sean shot down all of the Demeter archers, and snatched up the flag. He turned and got rid of the pursuing Ares kids, then sprinted back toward the line. He had no support this time. He approached the stream steadily and quickly, but then he saw a sea green shape. An Ares kid burst out of the trees on the other side, and was closer to the stream than Sean. It was a hopeless race. Sean contemplated shooting, but it would slow him down enough they would definitely lose if he missed. He realized he wasn't much faster than the Ares kid, and they would lose anyway. So, he stopped, turned, and shot the camper's helmet clean off. The camper, now revealed to be female, slipped and fell as her head's momentum was halted and her feet refused to stop. Sean raced across the stream just as a mob of Ares kids burst from the trees to stop him. The conch horn blew, and everything went silent.

The slash marks disappeared, and the Ares flag changed color magically. It turned gray, then brightened to silver. In each corner appeared a turquoise bow, whose limbs were made of deer horns. They were all drawn and pointing at a white crescent moon in the center. The very same crescent moon suddenly appeared over Sean's head, with silver clouds floating in front of it. Chiron galloped to the circle of kids, and looked at Sean.

He exclaimed unintentionally, "Artemis!"

And the camp erupted.


	2. Chapter 2

Percy stepped forward and took Sean's arm. The campers erupted in voices and arguments, and Percy inconspicuously escorted Sean into the Poseidon cabin. There they waited, and soon a few campers visited the Artemis cabin. When they didn't find Shaun, they looked in Apollo and Hermes, and several of the minor gods, then gave up and left.

Soon, Annabeth joined them and the discussion began.

"Can't say I know how you feel," Percy said. "When I was claimed everyone bowed. There certainly weren't angry mobs after me, at first."

"Aren't we going to address the real topic of interest here?" Annabeth was very exasperated. "Artemis, virgin goddess, Maiden of the Hunt, the one who's sworn off men and children? She's got a son. How-"

A distant voice sounded. It belonged to Clarisse, the queen of bullies and fun-makers and daughter of Ares. "Check the other cabins, then! Punk's gotta be around here somewhere. In fact, he's probably with old Seawater Mouth over there."

Annabeth pulled a Yankees baseball cam from her back pocked and put it on. She turned in visible, startling Sean and almost making him yelp. She soon reappeared in the doorway of the honorary silver Artemis cabin, and threw the cap like a frisbee. Sean caught it and put it on, instantly turning invisible. He almost ran into Clarisse on the way out, who saw Percy alone in his cabin, snorted, and left after Sean. He reappeared in the Artemis cabin and threw the cap as Annabeth had. Percy soon joined them, and returned the cap to Annabeth.

"So," Annabeth continued. "How does she swear off men and children, then have a man-child with a man?"

"True, it is unlike me."

The three campers nearly jumped through the high roof and turned to face the newcomer. She wasn't dressed like an ancient goddess, though her very presence said, _Artemis._ She was dressed in a silver T-shirt, dark gray pants, white Converse shoes, and held a silver bowtie in her hand. She approached them from the back of the cabin.

"I know, I was the goddess of chastity and virginity, yes. Now, though, I am not. I have been stripped of those titles with your birth, Sean. Ah, but I do not despair. I have seen the practicality and wisdom of having a true child, instead of just my Huntresses. They are truly a force to be reckoned with, but a child, with inherited abilities, now _that_ is power. And even more lucky am I that the child I sired was one such as you, Sean. Yes, I will have to return to my Huntresses, but this visit bears gifts, as with any rare future visits." Artemis held out the bowtie, and Sean reached for it, disappointed. A bowtie? For her first and only child in millennia? Sean was by no means spoiled, but a bowtie? And after that speech about how lucky she was to have Sean as a son? As soon as Sean's hand closed around it, though, the bowtie expanded. The bow part grew longer and heavier in both directions, until it was a full-force silver longbow. The strap of the bowtie disconnected, and grew as well. Soon, the strap belonged to a quiver. It looked made of silver silk, but was as thick and resilient as any leather. There were needle-thin lines of turquoise along the length of the quiver, and gave it the odd appearance of being woven out of the moonlight itself. The arrows within were of solid silver, even the fletchings, which were made of silver filament. Sean set down the bow and quiver, which turned back into a bowtie, then grew even smaller into something else. It was now a silver chain with a small replica of a drawn bow on it. Artemis then produced a pile of armor. It was all designed just like normal Greek armor; greaves and bracers, a breastplate over a knee-length tunic, and a helmet with a horsehair plume. With this armor, though, what was supposed to be bronze was silver, and the tunic and plume, which were supposed to be red, were turquoise.

"These are enchanted," Artemis explained, "and intertwined with the Mist." The Mist, in a nutshell, was the magical force that showed mortals what their minds could comprehend instead of the supernatural world of the gods. "It will change according to what you want, but all clothing is woven of silver filament. It will still be armor." Sean put the pile of armor with the necklace, and started to speak with Artemis. She spoke first, though.

"When you're in need, two silver hunting knives will appear to you. They will be exactly as you need them, as far as balance, sharpness, and grip."

"Thank you, mother." This time, Sean managed to get his piece in. "You are most kind."

"One more thing. When you wake up tomorrow, my blessing will have been completed. You will have enhanced speed, strength, marksmanship skills, and stealth skill. You could join my Hunt and become immortal, but I don't suppose you'd want to swear off men." Artemis smiled. Sean chuckled, and bowed his head.

"You are very kind. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Go to the Oracle," Artemis said. "There is a quest waiting for you. That is how you will repay me, by honoring me and my choice to have a child. Goodbye, son."

/\

Percy and Annabeth slept in the Artemis cabin that night. It was technically against the rules, but they wanted to have Sean's back in case of an Ares cabin raid. Sean had put on his armor, and it had immediately transformed into silver sweat pants and a turquoise T-shirt. He was sleeping very soon, but it may not have been a good thing.

The dream started familiar. Sean was being attacked by something unknown, just a shadow in the distance. He couldn't fight or even move, and-

The dream changed. Sean was leaning against the Big House, looking over Camp Half-Blood. It was peaceful, happy, and pride-inducing, just to know that Sean was a part of it. Then he blinked, and the cabins were burning. The pavilions were rubble. The lake's water had been replaced by fire. The forest now consisted only of charred stumps, as though crazy flaming lumberjacks had gone on a killing spree. And there, in the middle of it all, was a flawless cabin. The Artemis cabin. On top, sitting there looking pleased with himself, was Sean.

/\

 _You'll watch as comrades summon beasts that they cannot control._

 _You'll have to gather courage then, or cast aside your soul._

 _And if you wish to save friends' lives, you will not save your own._

 _But if you survive these circumstances, you will end up alone._

The green steam disappeared, and Rachel turned and walked away as if nothing had happened. Sean shuddered. The entire prophecy was a bad omen. Nothing about success, nothing about preventing this dilemma. Sean walked back toward the dining, where people still hadn't gotten over the whole 'son of Artemis' thing.

"So, if-"

"How did-"

"Why do-"

"Who do you-"

Sean was barraged with questions. Each one he answered with the truth, which was, "I don't know." He approached Chiron, who was one of the only people who understood and didn't ask questions. "I got my prophecy," he said, though he didn't much want to share it. He repeated the prophecy quietly to Chiron, whose expression didn't reassure Sean.

"Well," Chiron finally said, "this could mean many things-"

"I'm going to die." Sean was almost sure of it. "Or, I'm going to get everyone else killed. And it doesn't even mention anything about succeeding in my quest."

"Oh, child." Chiron tried to reassure him. "It's only some Cyclopes. Not even fully grown yet, against three heroes? Forget about failure." But both of them knew that even a young Cyclops was difficult to handle, and a group of Cyclopes was near impossible, even with three heroes. "Hm... How about this," Chiron said. "You can choose six heroes to accompany you." That was much better than three versus a group of Cyclopes. Sean nodded.

Chiron stamped his hoof, and the dining pavilion went silent. "We have a quest on our hands, as you all know. It is to be led by the first and only child of Artemis, Sean Bennett. He is to choose six heroes to accompany him, in order to give him a better chance of fighting off, yes, an uprising of young Cyclopes." The pavilion was overrun with a wave of muttering and protests. A few Hermes campers disappeared into the crowd. When the noise finally died down, Sean was free to choose his best partners.

"Percy and Annabeth." They had been very supportive when the camp had imploded at the news of Sean's mother. From there he had to think for a moment. He looked over the crowd, when suddenly, at the Hecate table, he saw an old friend. Wendall was his name, and he had stayed with Sean over all of his expulsions, and had been expelled as many times as Sean. They always stuck together, and Wendall had become one of Sean's only friends. Now they both realized that the other was a Half-Blood, and they locked eyes and grinned. "Wendall," Sean said. "Jason, Leo, Nico." Jason was a son of Zeus. He could fly, control the weather, summon lightning. Leo was a son of Hephaestus, and was one of the only ones in history who had complete control over fire. Nico was a son of Hades, and had control over the dead, among many other things. With a child of each of the Big Three on Sean's side, he could easily beat some Cyclopes. Especially with Leo and Annabeth thrown into the picture.

"The heroes have been chosen," Chiron said.

/\

Sean still couldn't get over the prophecy. There were too many negative things in it, and nothing positive. With some effort, he cast aside his thoughts of the prophecy and continued packing. He had his silver armor-clothes on, and the necklace. The clothes looked normal enough. They consisted of black Converse shoes, blue jeans, a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, a black leather jacket with a hood sewn to the inside of the collar, and black fingerless gloves. When Sean looked closely, though, he saw a silvery sheen through the Mist, and recognized the armor for what it was. He also wore a small black backpack with Nectar, the drink of the gods, Ambrosia, the food of the gods, mortal cash, and golden Drachmas, the money of the gods. As he moved from the tent, he saw that his group had already gathered. Percy had blue jeans and his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt on, with a sea-green hoodie and a black backpack. Annabeth was dressed the same, only with a gray hoodie. Wendall wore dark blue jeans, a red shirt, purple fingerless gloves, an orange Camp Half-Blood hoodie, and a single-strap purple backpack. It was odd, but then again he was the son of Hecate, the goddess of magic, and his outfit did scream 'magic.' Jason had his blue jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter shirt. He wore no hoodie or backpack. Leo wore a dark green T-shirt, gray cargo pants, and a leather tool belt. Nico wore black jeans, a black T-shirt, a black hoodie, and a black backpack. At first glance, it looked like everyone was wearing tall boots and sweat bands on their wrists. When seen through the Mist, though, the heroes all wore bronze bracers and greaves. Sean also had trouble seeing any of their weapons through the Mist. Annabeth's dagger kept looking like a purse. Jason's sword was starting to look like part of a belt hanging out of a belt loop. Nico's sword just kept disappearing.

"Well, let's go, then," Sean said, and started walking. The group was close behind. As they walked across the magical border, the Mist stopped flickering. They all just looked like normal kids, now. The Cyclops uprising was a bit to the north of Manhattan, so the group moved into the city to hail a cab. They took the taxis in groups. Sean went with Nico and Wendall, Jason with Leo, and Annabeth went with Percy.

Sean's cab was in the front. As they went, they discussed the coming quest.

"How many giants were there, again?" Wendall seemed concerned now that they were on the road.

"Cyclopes," Nico absentmindedly corrected him.

"There are seven," Sean said, "though they aren't fully grown."

"Good," Nico said. "One Cyclops to a demigod."

From there, the three demigods simply sat quietly and looked out the windows. When the cab passed out of the city, Sean turned his attention to the cab driver. It didn't seem he'd heard any of their discussion, which was good. Sean wasn't sure if he could have covered up the strange conversation about mythological creatures. Finally, the cab passed out of the suburbs of New York, and a few farms began to appear. In one of them, a strange image could be seen. There was a horse with a rooster on its head, which caught Sean's attention first. The second thing he saw was the cow, larger than any he'd ever seen and with larger horns. It was completely brown and looked more like a bull. Granted, he'd only seen cows at zoos for school field trips. Next, he saw a goat, but it was misshapen and strange-looking.

Then he blinked, and the Mist died. The horse and rooster turned into something strange. The horse's body was the same. However, it now had rooster claws, a rooster head, rooster wings, and a rooster tail, all enlarged to size. The cow was now only standing on two hooves. It still had the hindquarters of a cow, but the torso of a man, and the head of a large bull. The minotaur held a massive axe in both hands. The goat wasn't a goat anymore. It was a Chimera. It had the body of a lion, and a snake for a tail. The lion had two heads, one of a lion and the other of a goat.

As Sean watched, he saw the three creatures turn toward the cab and break into a full-force charge. He was about to tell the driver to step on it, but he stopped at a stop sign instead. It was no use. Sean rolled down the window and climbed to the roof of the cab. It lurched forward again, and Sean nearly lost his feet. The cab wasn't fast enough, though, and the creatures were gaining. Sean snatched his necklace off his neck, and it changed into a bow and quiver. He was about to fire at the minotaur, but then it stopped and turned toward Percy and Annabeth's cab. The horse-chicken turned to Jason and Leo's taxi, and the Chimera kept at Sean's. Percy climbed out the window as well, uncapping his ballpoint pen. Sean wasn't sure how that would help, but then it expanded into a sword. Annabeth climbed up with him. The cab drivers were still oblivious. Jason slashed out the window at the horse-chicken, but only managed to slice off a feather. Sean fired at the Chimera, and only then realized how much Artemis had enhanced his abilities. The arrow slammed into the Chimera's goat eye, and the head burst into golden dust. Now there was just a lion with a snake tail. Sean fired an arrow with such accuracy it sliced off the snake's head. Just an overlarge lion now. The Chimera charged past the cab, then skidded to a stop and slashed along the side. As the Chimera's claws caught on the cab, it turned sideways and skidded. Sean was hurled from the cab, and Nico flew out the window as well. Wendall was simply gone. The other two cabs slammed into the crashed one, and let fur demigods fly over one of the farms. Jason stayed suspended in the air, manipulating the wind. Everyone else rolled over the soft soil. Sean was flying higher than them, though, and would most definitely die on impact. Jason manipulated the wind again, though, and lowered him safely to the ground.

Sean nocked two arrows, and fired both at different targets. The Chimera was stuck through the eye, and burst into golden dust. The horse-chicken's neck was shish-kebabbed, and he also burst into golden dust. Percy stepped sideways and decapitated the charging Minotaur. All of the silver arrows that Sean had used fell and stuck themselves perfectly in the ground, where he could easily see and pick them up. He did, placing them in his quiver and dropping the bow. As it left his hand, it turned back into a necklace and replaced itself around his neck.

"Well," Percy said, with wisdom second only to Athena, "that's... yeah."

/\

Sean looked up from the road, and saw the first of the Cyclopes.

They were at least ten feet tall and great lumbering beasts. Each only had one large orange-brown eye, with one dark, bushy eyebrow, right in the middle of their heads. They had sharp, jagged teeth, massive arms, and fists the size of Sean's entire body. They all wore dirty, tattered tunics that might've once been white and too-small brown trousers. None wore any shoes, except for the lead one who wore a single tattered sandal. Sean instinctively ducked sideways into some trees. This far out in the country, there were a lot of those. The others were a bit slower to react. Jason stared for a moment before using his sky powers to shoot into the air. Wendall stood gawking, even as he turned invisible. Percy clenched his jaw at some memory and stalked over to Sean's side. Leo pulled something from his tool belt and lay on the ground. Annabeth put on her blue Yankees cap and disappeared. Nico summoned some shadows, which hid him as he raced to the side of the road opposite Percy and Sean. The Cyclopes lumbered past, and Sean slipped in behind the rear one. As soon as he was out of the trees, the group stopped.

"Heroes. I smell godly blood! I smell demigods! I smell Half-Bloods! I smell-"

"No you don't!" The lead Cyclops turned around and stopped the flow of words. "We need to keep moving if we're going to make it to the Union. That dumb demigod has asked for a Cyclops, well he'll get seven!"

The original speaker grumbled, but the group stomped on. Just then, a sword came out of nowhere and stabbed the lead Cyclops in the eye. He burst into golden dust, and Nico dropped into a roll. He had used shadows to mask his approach and destroyed a seventh of the Half-Bloods' opposition. Sean took the opportunity, snatching his bow from around his neck. He sprinted toward the rear Cyclops, jumped, and pulled on its shoulder. Once he was at a good height, he turned around and nocked an arrow. At just the right time, he released it, piercing the center of the Cyclops's pupil. It, too burst into golden dust, but by now the others had realized what was happening. Jason dropped from the sky, burying his sword in one of their shoulders. It cut deep, but didn't kill the Cyclops. The sword caught and Jason tumbled to the ground, unarmed. Leo stood up rom between two Cyclopes and tossed what looked like a piece of meat toward one of their faces. The Cyclops easily caught it, then popped it into its mouth and tried to stomp on Leo. The meat exploded, then, leaving smoke to billow out of the Cyclops's mouth and nose. He coughed, choked, and fell over. Percy flew at another Cyclops and sliced its calf. The cyclops knelt, and was smacked in the face by the hilt of Percy's sword. Annabeth reappeared on top of another giant and dove off. When she was at eye level, though, she stabbed her knife through the Cyclops's eye and turned a full front flip. When the Cyclops burst into dust, Annabeth's knife fell straight into her open hand. Lastly, Wendall reappeared. He began some stream of words, and soon had a huge orange portal open in the ground. A fiery woman emerged, hurling fire at the last Cyclops.

Annabeth yelled at him. "Cyclopes are immune to-" But she was distracted, now. The cyclops who'd swallowed Leo's smoke meat had recovered now, and picked her up. He added her to a stack of half-conscious demigods: Leo, Percy, Jason, and Nico. Sean was unsure how he'd gotten a heavily-armed son of Poseidon and a similarly-armed son of Hades, but he couldn't worry about that, now. The Cyclops Percy had attacked was recovering, and the one Wendall's beast was attacking didn't seem to feel a thing.

Wendall's beast.

 _You'll watch as comrades summon beasts that they cannot control._

"Wendall! Dispel your thing!"

Wendall looked up, and waved his hand. The fire creature disappeared, and Wendall was snatched up by the Cyclops with all of Sean's friends. That was strange. The prophecy had said that the beasts would be uncontrollable. Yet Wendall had simply dispelled his creature with relative ease. He didn't have time to dwell on that, now. His friends were in danger.

 _You'll have to gather courage, then, or cast aside your soul._

 _And if you wish to save friend's lives, you will not save your own._

This was it. The prophecy was coming true. Now was the time to sacrifice himself for his friends. Sean fired arrow after arrow, and they each slammed quivering into a Cyclops. The monster didn't fall, though, and Sean realized he needed to take an extra half-second to aim. He did, and the silver arrow flew straight and true. It passed straight through a Cyclops's throat, and he exploded in dust. Two left now, and one had a wounded calf and broken nose, courtesy of Percy. The other had its hands full. Sean reached back for an arrow.

He didn't find one.

Sean dropped his bow, and it fastened itself around his neck in necklace form. Artemis had said that some silver hunting knives would appear when needed, and Sean liked that idea. He decided he would make his sacrifice in full bad-A form. His clothes began to change. Within a split second, they had. He wore a white dress shirt with silver buttons, a silver blazer with black trim, black pants with silver pin-stripes, a silver bowtie, and silver shoes. A hunting knife appeared in each of his hands, and he walked forward casually. The wounded Cyclops swiped at him, but he leaped onto the swinging hand. The hand brought Sean up near the Cyclops's shoulder, and he jumped onto it. He slashed and stabbed at the one large eye, and rode the shoulder all the way to the ground.

When he looked up, though, the last Cyclops had already carried his friends away. It was gone.

/\

"Well, let's go, then, slow boat!" Beckendorf beckoned the Cyclops in. He would chain him up and make him work the forges. Then, maybe the other Hephaestus kids could learn something. When the Cyclops entered, Beckendorf followed him, spear raised. There was a funnel of year-round kids, also with spears, that would be able to guide the Cyclops to the forge. They were all Beckendorf had, as it was fall and the summer campers had all gone home.

Sean watched from across the road. He then raced to camp, and disappeared inside the Big House. He had to tell Chiron. He looked all over, but the old Centaur was nowhere to be found. He heard screaming, then.

Sean burst out of the Big House and looked around. Somehow, the Cyclops had broken its chains and wrapped up all of the campers. He now herded the demigod burrito toward the big house. He still held all of Sean's friends in his hand, and now Beckendorf was on top. When he finally got the campers into the house, Sean was gone. The Cyclops forced Beckendorf to give permission for others to enter camp, and two fully grown Cyclopes walked in, accompanied by three young ones. They plopped down next to the canoe lake, and began discussing how nice it would be to have no rain for a while. Sean chose that moment to slip unseen out of the woods and amongst the cabins. he then reviewed the prophecy.

 _You'll watch as comrades summon beasts that they cannot control._ Check. Beckendorf had summoned a Cyclops, and he had taken over. _You'll have to gather courage, then, or cast aside your soul._ Not yet, but he would still be able to do that. _And if you wish to save friends' lives, you will not save your own._ That would be easily done as well. _If you survive the circumstances, you will end up alone._ Check. He'd already survived the Cyclops battle, and was now the only person with any hope of taking back the camp from the Cyclopes. Time for the sacrifice.

Sean ran from the cabins, and hid in the dining pavilion. He could easily hear the Cyclopes' booming voices.

"Which one? They'd all satisfy."

"Yes, but we need a rare one. The Laistrygonians will pay more for them."

"Bah! We can't choose between all of these!"

"Then choose one to throw out!" Sean looked toward the Cyclopes, just in time to see Percy splash into the lake. Good thing they'd chosen Poseidon's son to put in the water.

"I need a drink. I'll be back." One Cyclops stood and walked over to the Long Island Sound. Sean, using his inherited ability to camouflage and sneak, ran up behind the great beast and jumped onto its shoulders. The Cyclops was so surprised he only though to yell after he lost the ability. Sean pushed the rapidly disintegrating body into the Sound and went to hide in the pavilion again. He returned just in time to see Leo being thrown aside. He landed on top of a brazier, and Sean sighed in relief. Leo was one of those rare sons of Hephaestus that had control over fire, and wouldn't be hurt by the brazier. Then Jason was tossed high into the sky, and his half-conscious mind bent the wind around him and suspended him there. Sean couldn't bear this. Soon, Annabeth or Wendall or Nico might be thrown, and they wouldn't survive whatever they hit. Sean sprinted from the pavilion.

 _You'll have to gather courage, then, or cast aside your soul._ Check. He was about to give himself up to a band of bloodthirsty Cyclopes, which definitely takes courage. If he didn't do that, he wouldn't be able to live with himself, and would probably be sent to the Fields of Punishment upon death for not saving his friends. That certainly qualified as casting aside his soul.

"I'm who you want!" he shouted at them. "I am the first and only son of Artemis!"

One of the Cyclopes giggled in excitement, and set down the other demigods. Then he scooped up Sean, and the troop of one-eyed giants evacuated the camp.

 _And if you wish to save friends' lives, you will not save your own._ Check. Sean had saved all of his friends, and had given up himself in the process. But now, he was at the mercy of these Cyclopes, and had no idea what they might do to him.

None of it could be good.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter is short. You'll soon see why.

/\

Sean hung from the Cyclops' grasp, feigning unconsciousness. After several hours, it was getting difficult to keep it up. Finally, the Cyclops put him down. Sean kept his eyes half-closed, and saw with horror the blurry image of a cage door closing. The inside of the entire cage was spiked, all except the floor. Sean wouldn't be able to escape without serious harm or a lot of time and a file. So, he slowly feigned awakening, and stood up. He then widened his eyes as he pretended to see the spikes for the first time.

One of the cyclopes laughed. "Prisoner scared! Spikes nasty!"

That angered Sean, for no apparent reason, and he snatched the silver bow from his neck. The cyclops' eye widened in turn, and three arrows suddenly sprouted from the pupil. The cyclops burst into golden dust, and suddenly Nico appeared out of the cloud. Percy followed him, with Annabeth at his left, followed by Jason and Leo. Wendall followed them, throwing purple spheres in all directions. Leo hurled fire and spun through the Cyclopes with ball-peen hammers. Jason summoned lightning from the sky onto cyclopes' heads, Percy summoned water from a nearby stream, Annabeth simply slashed with her knife. Cyclopes fell, bursting into piles and piles of golden dust. After a few minutes, Jason stepped from the battle and smashed the lock on Sean's cage. Sean opened the door and ran from the cage. Several arrows seemed to nock and fire themselves, but it was really Sean's enhanced speed form Artemis. He continued forward, firing arrows all the time, and jumped up onto a smaller Cyclops' shoulder. Suddenly, though, he was dumped off. His last sight was a refrigerator-sized hammer descending on him.

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Okay, in response to some comments, I've updated this chapter. Sean is dead. He was killed. End of story. If you want more Percy Jackson fanfic, check out my other story, _The Mother._


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